“Obviously footfall is crucial to a town shop and as a business owner this frightens me.”

Mr Young, who employs 10 people, said Denbighshire council will lose more money if shops start closing. He added: “I want our council to be pro-business and raise money intelligently. They should have consulted people about this at the very least. It’s lazy to look at taxing shoppers to fill budget gaps.

“I think an emergency meeting should be help to come up with a reasonable pricing scheme and work with us, not against us.”

A council spokesman said: “In Denbighshire we have been proud of the fact that we have not increased car parking for over seven years.